Finding Family
by xSilentSecretsx
Summary: Stiles is kicked out of the pack for the safety of himself and others. The Mikaelson's are searching for the spark to repair their family bonds. Or Stiles gets kicked out of the pack, but the Mikaelson's adopt him into their own
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"_Leave." _

_It was one simple word, yet it held so much power. It told Stiles that he wasn't wanted. He was never wanted. He was the spazzy sidekick. Scott McCall's burden. The annoying know-it-all. He accepted all of those titles, but he never thought they would put him out because of them. He thought he was pack. Family. Wasn't family supposed to be there for one another, through thick and thin? No matter how odd or off or even useless one of the members was. Was he just that pathetic? _

_Stiles wanted to know exactly what was wrong with him. He continuously kept pushing people away from one way or another. He killed his mother. His father won't look him in the eye and finds every excuse to work. Now his pack, his so-called family, all hate him to the point of throwing him out. _

_He was a fuckup. _

"_You're done here." Derek snarled while slamming Stiles into a wall. "Don't show up here again. Don't talk to me or the pack again." _

_Stiles eyed the pack that stood behind Derek. None of them maintained eye contact with him. None of them defended him. Not even Scott. They were all just letting him be assaulted by someone he thought he could trust. For what? Because he got hurt? Well, it happens! Not everyone has the luxury of super durability. _

"_Let me go," Stiles demanded lowly. Derek complied but continued to scowl. _

_Stiles forced his way past the Alpha and the pack cleared the way for him. Stiles grabbed his backpack from the ground of Derek's loft. He eyed the research papers he had worked on for the pack on the coffee table before turning to look at Derek once more. "This goes both ways. Don't bother me and stay out of my life. Nothing I do concerns any of you anymore, including anything supernatural."_

"_Stiles-" Scott spoke, but the look Stiles gave him left the beta speechless. _

_Stiles threw his backpack onto his left shoulder and started to leave the loft. He stopped momentarily at the door and looked toward the coffee table once more. The papers lit up in flames, turning into nothing but useless ash. _

_He didn't want to be apart of a pack that was dumb enough to get rid of a badass spark, like himself, anyways. They were the fuckups. _

Stiles hated Mondays, especially the Monday after winter break. These were the days that his teachers decided to go full force into preparing the students for various standardized tests. He walked into his first class with a groan. English was alright, but he had the majority of the pack in this class and it hurt. Instead of sitting next to Scott, he sat in the back. On his left side sat a guy that Stiles was pretty sure was extremely high, while his right side was an empty seat.

Scott, Lydia, and Jackson entered the room not too long after he did. They all paid him no mind as they took their seats next to each other. Allison entered the classroom next. She mistakenly made eye contact with him and quickly sat next to her boyfriend. The two immediately began whispering amongst each other in a cute yet nauseating way. Lydia was talking to Jackson, only stopping to partially turn around and eye Stiles briefly. He gave her a tight smile in response, that she promptly ignored. Stiles rolled his eyes and took his journal from his backpack and began to mindlessly doodle in it. He didn't need them anyway. Besides, he had his amazing personality to keep him company.

"Mr. Stilinski please raise your hand." The teacher's request jostled him from his thoughts. He scrunched his face up in confusion as he raised his hand. There was a girl he didn't recognize, walking toward the empty seat on his right. She had long blonde hair, smooth skin, and piercing blue eyes. She was gorgeous, to say the least.

She sat down delicately and immediately turned her gaze to him. "I'm Rebekah Mikaelson." She introduced herself somewhat arrogantly. Stiles already had mixed feelings about this girl. The school didn't need another popular diva in their midst. She may be new, but her accent was going to give her a lot of positive attention.

"You're British." He gaped.

She simply rolled her eyes and huffed, "The proper thing to do would be to introduce yourself back." She narrowed her eyes. Fair enough.

Stiles blushed, "You're right, sorry. I'm Stiles Stilinski." His hand caressed the back on his neck sheepishly.

Her eyes flashed in brief recognition, "The Sheriff's son?"

He nodded, "That's me." He looked away, slightly uncomfortable. "Can I see your schedule?" Rebekah fished the paper from her bag and handed it to him. The wrinkled schedule slightly threw him off. Maybe he judged her character too quickly.

Stiles nodded over it approvingly, "You have History, Gym, and this class with me." He grinned, "You can sit with me at lunch too if you want."

Stiles faintly heard Jackson snort from his seat in the room.

Rebekah smiled, "That would be lovely. Oh, I hope you don't mind if my brother, Kol, joins us."

"The more the merrier."

Meeting Kol was the most stressful thing that Stiles had ever had the displeasure of doing. Somehow Stiles had been stuck in a Mikaelson sandwich, with each sibling sitting on either side of him. Then they decided to argue over whose friend he was. According to Rebekah, Stiles was her friend because she met him first. Kol decided that Stiles was his friend because he was the more interesting sibling. At some point, Kol got bored with the argument and decided that it was a good idea to fling a paper airplane at the back of Ms. Smith's head.

Stiles was blamed and given detention. He didn't think he liked the siblings too much.

Now it was lunchtime and the Mikaelson siblings started bickering _again. _The three sat in a reserved corned in the back of the cafeteria. Rebekah decided to drop her pointless argument with her brother, much to Stiles's internal delight, in favor of complaining about the lunch.

"Do they really expect us to eat this...slop?" She gave to food an experimental poke with her fork.

"Why?" Kol gave a mischievous smirk, "Afraid it'll go to your thighs?"

Before Rebekah could assault her brother (which really would be a bad idea considering it was their first day of school), Stiles quickly blurted out, "Let's get some food from the diner later!" He mentally slapped himself. That's not what he wanted to do. In fact, he actually wanted to be far away from them. Maybe he was just acting out against his best interest because of his growing abandonment issues. Yeah, that had to be the reason. Not because he's lonely or anything...

Kol gave Stiles a flirty smile, "If this is your way of asking us out-"

Stiles flung some of his slop at Kol in response.

The pack sat at their usual table with confliction. The new students were off-putting and the way they attach themselves to Stiles was suspicious. Jackson made an off-handed comment about Stilinski being desperate for friends, which resulted in Scott flashing his eyes dangerously at him. Lydia and Allison managed to keep their boys from ripping each other apart. Fighting was going to get them nowhere.

"Maybe it was a good idea to push Stiles away," Erica commented after the conflict was resolved. She was idly moving her food around with her fork. Boyd eyed her actions with a frown and handed her his container of applesauce, that she accepted with mild interest.

A look of hurt crossed Scott's face, but before he could protest, Allison asked why.

"We don't know if they're a threat." Erica looked over at where the Mikaelson's and Stiles sat.

Understanding crossed Lydia's expression, "If they wanted to use him for information, then how long would it take for him to break? He's an easy target."

Surprisingly it was Boyd who spoke up next, "That won't happen." He shared a heavy gaze with Erica, "He would die before he'd give anyone information." He looked at the pack with certainty.

Erica's face paled, "You're right. Sorry." She responded meekly and decided to distract herself by actually eating the applesauce.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the couple, "You two are hiding something."

"It's not our secret to tell," Boyd responded simply. The rest of the pack looked at him curiously.

Scott glared at the couple, "He's my best friend. I have the right to know." He demanded.

Jackson snorted before giving McCall a condescending look, "Maybe before, but definitely not now."

"What the hell are you on about?" He growled out defensively.

"When was the last time you hung out with him? Or even talked to him?" Jackson challenged.

"When was the last time you hung out with Danny?" McCall countered smugly.

Lydia rolled her eyes and responded with an annoyed sigh, "They talked last night and they hang out every Tuesday and Thursday." She gave Scott a pointed look.

Scott had the decency to look embarrassed. Had he and Stiles really grown so much apart? When was the last time they hung out without it being supernaturally related? Scott laid his head on the table and groaned, "I'm a shit friend."

"Doesn't really matter now," Isaac muttered in response, earning him a glare from Erica and Allison.

No one tried to refute it.

"How in the world did you become a cheerleader without having to try out?" Stiles' eyes were wide with disbelief. Katy Bell, the head cheerleader, was vicious when it came to recruiting. Her domineering personality rivaled Lydia's, which automatically put the two at odds. Katy wanted her team to be the best 24/7 and didn't just accept anyone onto the squad. So, Rebekah suddenly being able to convince Katy to let her on with no trial was suspicious as hell.

Rebekah shrugged, "I'm persuasive." Her gaze switched to eye the approaching figure behind Stiles. She narrowed her eyes at the figure immediately. Stiles made a mental note to think about the subject later. He decided to see what made her so angry.

Stiles squinted his eyes in confusion, before turning around and seeing who his new friend was glaring at. He was even more confused when he saw it was Danny. Hell, even Danny looked confused. Everyone loves Danny! Stiles wondered what about him was setting her on edge. Danny was as harmless as could be.

"Uh hey, Stiles." Danny greeted nervously. He gave Rebakah a small smile as well, but she rolled her eyes in response.

"Hey, Danny." Stiles smiled, hoping to clear a little of the tension. "Have you met Rebekah? She and her brothers just moved here." He pointed to the said girl warily.

Rebekah checked Danny out with a sneer, "Pleasure." She responded dryly. Danny took an instinctive step back but was stopped when he bumped into another body.

"Don't mind the she-witch." Kol helped Danny stay steady. "She tends to get a bit bitchy when- well actually she's always bitchy."

Stiles's heart sped up when he saw the girl's features start to twitch.

"Kol I swear to God I will-"

"SO-" Stiles frantically interrupted her, "What's up Danny boy? What can I do for ya?" Kol stepped away from the popular boy and moved next to Stiles. Kol casually placed his hands above his head in order to rest against them.

Danny eyed Kol and Stiles for a second before answering, "There's going to be a project for physics announced soon and I wanted to recruit you for my group."

Stiles didn't even attempt to hide his shock. Danny wanted to work with him? He was used to people groaning when being partnered with him, but Danny had just come up to him willingly. "Group?" Stiles wanted to hit his head against the wall. That definitely wasn't what he was supposed to say.

Danny nodded, "It's going to be the infamous bridge project. I usually work with Lydia or Jackson for my projects, but both have a different teacher. I know that you're smart and won't drag me down and I could use your creative input too. We're supposed to have up to four people-" Danny stopped to eye the Mikaelson's and his demeanor opened up more as his expression brightened, "-are you two taking physics and who do you have?"

Both siblings nodded, "Ms. Kelley" They spoke in unison then gave each other looks of disgust.

Stiles followed Danny's train of thought, "We could all work together on it and it works better since Kol and Rebekah have class at different times than us, so we can work on it more."

Rebekah perked up, "You want us to work with you?"

"Of course!" Stiles gave them a genuine smile. Maybe they weren't so bad? The four of them exchanged numbers and make plans to meet up over the weekend.

Stiles's dad had told him many times not to take rides from strangers. Never give them the control willingly. Maybe if his father was around more, he would have listened to the little voice that told him this was a bad idea. Instead, he smothered the voice until there was nothing keeping him from having fun. Screw safety, he was rebelling. Plus it didn't help how intriguing these particular strangers were. The more little details he learned, the more invested he became in the two. He couldn't help it, curiosity was in his nature.

Stiles had found out that Kol and Rebekah live with their two older brothers, Klaus and Elijah. Elijah had picked the two up from school and decided to join them at the diner. Stiles had hesitated once he remembered that he had detention, but Ms. Smith had strangely decided to not go through with it. Another bizarre thing to happen that day, but he wasn't going to complain. There was nothing stopping Stiles from celebrating his freedom with a shake and some curly fries.

Now he sat in a booth next Kol and across from Rebekah. Elijah sat on Rebekahs left side. Stiles immediately decided that Elijah was daddy material. He casually wore a crisp suit, his car was obviously expensive, and his accent was absolutely mouth-watering. He played the big brother role perfectly and didn't give in to his siblings teasing. He did his best to keep them from bickering but failed miserably. Stiles noted how Elijah's eyes shone with pure love for his siblings regardless. Stiles couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Stiles had always wanted siblings, especially after his mother died. He practically lived alone until the age of eleven since his father was either at work or the bar. The deputies noticed how little he went home and Noah just decided to drink at home. After that, Noah spent many nights blacked out in front of the couch. He's only calmed down on drinking once Stiles' got into high school, but it's been slowly building back up once the supernatural started being more of a problem than usual.

Not wanting to linger too long in his thoughts he asked,"So what do you do for a living Elijah?"

"Lijah here is a professional stick in the mud." Kol hummed from behind his menu. Stiles had a feeling that Kol wasn't really reading it.

Rebekah attempted to hold back a snicker as Elijah somehow reframed from hitting Kol. He must have the will power of a saint for not going through with it.

"My family and I are very well off, so I don't find the need to work, but I used to be a History teacher." He answered smoothly. His accent was absolutely mouth-watering.

"I hate history." Stiles unintentionally muttered. His thoughts went back to the hell that was the third period class of the day.

Kol rolled his eyes, "I would too if I had to sit next to a bag of hair like my dear sister."

"She's not the one who got me detention." Stiles deadpanned.

"Did you just call me a bag of hair?" Rebekah eyed her brother with disdain.

"My mistake, a beautiful bag of hair." Kol flashed her a smile, before turning his attention toward Stiles, "You can't be mad considering that you didn't have to go through with it!" Kol winked.

Stiles paused momentarily before responding, "That's so not the point!" Stiles put a hand through his hair and narrowed his eyes at the young man. How did Kol know about that? Stiles never informed the family about that little bit of information.

Kol simply stuck his tongue out in response.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles stayed out with the Mikaelson siblings until it got dark. Elijah dropped him back to the school then followed him home to ensure Stiles arrived home. It made Stiles get all warm and fuzzy inside, not that he would ever mention it. He was home alone for the night since his dad worked the night shift again. Elijah had questioned if he would like to stay over at their estate so he wouldn't be alone.

Stiles noticed his throat constrict as he did his best to force down the tears. He declined, but they decided that Stiles would go over for dinner the following night. They said their goodbyes and Stiles walked into his house. He noticed that Elijah didn't drive off until Stiles locked the door.

The warm fuzzy feeling returned. It was nice having someone show genuine concern for his safety.

He trudged up to his room and threw himself onto his bed. How had he just met these people, but he already missed them? He didn't even like them at the start of the day, but tonight he had fun. They forced themselves into his life when he needed somebody the most and for that made him happy. He hadn't thought of the pack either! He had forgotten about the situation that happened over the weekend until Kol mentioned how Scott, Jackson, Erica, and Isaac stared at them during gym class. Stiles gave them his best glare, then told Kol to ignore them. Jackson's audible growl made Stiles smirk. Any blow to Jackson's ego equated to a good thing.

He still couldn't believe that Derek kicked him out and everyone went along with it. He wasn't surprised, considering how most of the members disliked him. Lydia still didn't acknowledge him unless it was to help with research or to scoff at his outfit. Jackson was a bigger asshole than before. Stiles guessed that Jackson wanted to let everyone know how awful of a person he was by doubling down on the douche nozzle part of his personality. Isaac was a snarky little shit who has been occupying all of Scott's non-Allison time since the summer. Scott hadn't acknowledged him in a while. Erica calmed down on the attitude toward him, but had replaced it with silence after the Gerad incident. Boyd… well he was never a huge talker, so Stiles didn't expect much from him.

It didn't matter if the pack didn't like him. It was idiotic to kick him out when he's a Spark. His value to the pack should have held some kind of weight to keep him in. Did they hate him that much? Was he so annoying that they didn't care about what he could do? Stiles didn't know whether to feel hurt or annoyed. On one hand, they treated him like trash. On the other, they were dumbasses, considering how his magic ran off of belief of all fucking things!

Okay, so Stiles didn't have complete control over his magic yet and needed more practice, but that's no excuse. He has potential! Not only that, but he's a literal rarity! What kind of pack would throw away a potential supernatural powerhouse? Was he that bad to be around? Stiles wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. Why did his mom die? Why did his dad stop loving him? Why didn't the pack want him?

How long will it take for his new friends to throw him away too?

When Stiles arrived at school the next day, he noticed how the pack had congregated at the school entrance. He debated on sitting in his car until the bell rang, but a knock on his window startled him out of his thoughts. He turned toward the sound with frantic wide eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kol's face. Kol gave him a cocky grin and invited himself to sit in Stiles' passenger seat. The back door opened and Rebekah slid in with an annoyed expression gracing her face.

"Uh, why are you guys in my car?" Stiles questioned. People rarely invited themselves into the cars of people they didn't know.

Rebekah was the one to respond, "You didn't seem like you were going inside soon."

"The more the merrier, right?" Kol asked while pulling his phone from his back pocket. Stiles glanced at the screen and saw Kol scrolling through Instagram.

Stiles shrugged, "I guess it's better than brooding alone."

Rebekah and Kol shared a look, "Does this have anything to do with them?" Kol pointed to the area where the pack was.

Stiles' eyes narrowed at Kol suspiciously, "That's none of your business." Who the hell did he think he was? Why was Kol interested in the pack?

Stiles let out a yelp as Rebekah swatted the back of his head. He turned to glare at her, but she gave him a more menacing look.

"Be nice!" Rebekah chastised him.

"Fine." He turned back towards Kol, "I would rather not talk about it." He mumbled. Usually, he would start an argument to deflect from his problems, but he didn't want to scare the two off too fast with his off the wall babbling. He wanted to hang out with them more outside school. He was getting too attached too fast. Too needy. Too much.

He shook himself from his thoughts and clapped his hands loud, "Come on kiddies! Time for school!" Before either of the siblings could respond, he opened the Jeeps door and hopped out. He missed the looks of concern aimed at him from both the siblings and his ex-friends. Regardless, he led the two into the building, refusing to look at the pack. Instead, he distracted himself by going off on a rant on the pros and cons of each teacher the new students had. This rant lasted until he and Rebekah had made it to their seats for the first period.

His first instinct was to clamp his mouth shut after his mouth vomit. This is why he can't maintain friendships. This is the reason the pack hates him. Why Derek despises him. He can't stop talking for two seconds. He doesn't seem to know when to stop. He-

"Stiles?" Rebekah placed her hand on his arm, "Are you okay?"

There goes that warm fuzzy feeling again.

He took a deep breath before responding, "Yeah I'm- I'll be fine. It's just a bad day I guess." He smiled half-heartedly. Rebekah nodded and went back to getting her supplies ready for class. A few moments later is when the teacher began class.

Stiles and Rebekah didn't speak for the entire duration of the period. It wasn't like they had an opportunity too since the class was dedicated to taking a mock test for the state. He was glad for the distraction that kept him out of his personal thoughts.

"I don't understand why English has so many bloody rules." Rebekah groaned when the two walked out of the classroom.

Stiles snorted, "I'm pretty sure these half the questions are meant to trick us. I felt like I was solving riddles."

The blonde gave him a look of disbelief, "But you were the first one done," annoyance laced her voice. He gave her a helpless shrug before slipping into his next class, leaving her in the hallway to mope.

There were only two students in the classroom, leaving a plethora of seats for the taking. He sat at one table next to the windows and made sure he chose the seat closest to it. He rested his chin on his hand and set his gaze toward the sky. He remained in that position until he felt a presence move next to him.

"Hey." Danny smiled at him, "Hope you don't mind me sitting next to you this semester."

"It's a free country dude." Stiles shrugged. He figured that Danny moved next to him for project purposes. The day prior it was Greenburg that sat next to him, so Danny was a welcome change. Not that there was anything wrong with Greenburg, but he spent the class period pestering Stiles over borrowing various supplies needed for the class.

Class began and Ms. Kelley started by explaining the bridge assignment. On top of creating an efficient bridge using the least amount of popsicle sticks that they could, they were to research and write a paper on various types of bridges and their pros and cons. They also needed to make sure it could hold at least twenty-five pounds without breaking. After explaining the assignment, she told the class to find group members and begin making plans.

The class erupted into a mass of chatter. Ms. Kelley made her way over to Danny and Stiles with a pleasant smile. "Good morning boys, I'm glad to see two of my brightest students working together for this." Pride shone in her eyes as she spoke. "Kol told me he and Rebekah would be in your group, correct?"

"Yes, we thought it would be best to give us as much time to work as possible. We'll also be meeting up frequently after school." Danny explained.

Ms. Kelley nodded in approval before wishing them luck on the project and moving on to the next group.

"Any ideas?"

Stiles scrunched up his face in thought, "We could split up the essay by giving everyone a specific bridge to research then one of us could put it together."

Danny nodded, "We could also build multiple types of bridges to figure out the best one for the assignment."

"If we do that, we need to document the number of popsicle sticks used in all of them and how much weight it carried," Stiles added. "It'll give the essay a little more pizazz." The urge to do jazz hands was a hard battle for Stiles to fight, but how can he _not _after using the word pizzazz? Luckily for him, the time frame where jazz hands would have been appropriate had passed. Maybe next time he'll do it.

Danny wrote the information in his journal for later use. "We make a pretty good team Stilinski." He praised.

Stiles couldn't seem to form any words to respond with, so he gave Danny a bold wink. The other boy let out a pleasant chuckle. The two spent the rest of the class period making small talk and learning little things about each other.

Danny was team IronMan, while Stiles a complete Captain America fanboy. Danny was the oldest sibling and had 3 sisters and 1 brother. All of them looked up to him, so he felt he needed to lead by example. Stiles was an only child but wished he had a big family. At one point Danny questioned him about his friendship with Scott. Stiles had become stiff and responded by saying they haven't been friends for a while. Danny didn't press and Stiles smiled at him. He didn't know if he would have been able to keep it together if he had to talk about Scott.

When the bell rang, both boys bid each goodbye with promises to make plans to meet up later in the week. Stiles felt better than he had earlier that day. He walked to his locker with a pep in his step, but almost groaned when he saw Scott stationed in front of it. Stiles wanted to ignore Scott's presence, but it would be hard since he needed to get his textbook from his locker.

"Pretty sure this school has a no loitering policy," Stiles muttered dryly while giving the beta an unimpressed look.

Scott's eyes glistened with hurt for a moment but switched to a look of determination. "The new kids are bad news dude." He leaned in to whisper, "They're not human."

Stiles rolled his eyes, "Newsflash: neither are you or the pack of mutts you run around with." He shoved Scott aside and unlocked his locker. "I suggest you be a good dog, leave me alone, and go to class." He might've been overdoing it with the dog analogies, but he also wasn't in the mood to care too much about it.

Scott's face turned red from frustration, "I'm just trying to look out for you! Stop acting like-"

Stiles turned to face Scott, "Like what?" He coolly asked. His expression was devoid of emotion as he spoke, "Like a guy abandoned by all of his friends, tossed aside like trash? Or maybe I'm acting like someone who's been taken for granted? Oh wait, maybe I'm just acting like a guy who's been tortured by the man my so-called best friend was working with? The best friend who didn't notice I was missing, who didn't acknowledge that I was hurt. That I'm _still_ hurt!"

The bell, signaling the start of class rung, but neither boy moved. The look in Stiles' eyes was dark and lively, various emotions were sparkling in them. Scott choked on his own silent cries as his ex-friend spoke. Stiles noted that Isaac and Erica were watching the two, but ignored them. "I spent the summer _alone. _I spent it trying my best to recover without my dad finding out. I still get fucking nightmares. But you?" A humorless chuckle erupted from Stiles, "You spent the summer with your new best friend Isaac and the hunter who let teenagers get tortured in her basement. I guess I didn't deserve a phone call huh?" Stiles moved to pat Scott on the shoulder and gave him a cruel smirk before uttering; "Great job looking out for me Scotty, you're doing an amazing job."

Stiles grabbed his textbook and closed his locker. He walked past the three werewolves without so much as a glance and made his way to class.

History class was uneventful besides Stiles receiving detention for being ten minutes late and being moved to sit in the back, next to Allison. She gave him an awkward wave that he ignored. As soon as class let out, the Mikaelsons dragged him off to the cafeteria where they got their food and claimed a seat outside. Rebekah had began complaining about the food again and this time Kol joined her.

"Why don't you just bring food from home?" Stiles asked with a lack of enthusiasm. The moment he had with Scott had left him exhausted beyond belief. He didn't even try to figure out what was being taught in third period. Talking seemed to be too much stress at the moment too.

Rebekah scoffed at the suggestion.

"Ah yes wouldn't want ruin your nails by making whatever atrocity you'd come up with, now would we?" Kol teased.

Rebekah took the bait, "Worried that my lunch would be better than yours?" She challenged.

"Oh no." Stiles eyed the two with wariness.

Kol shot Rebekah with a devious grin,"Game on sister dearest."

"The best of luck to you brother." She beamed in response.

The day drawled on slow, leading Stiles to be miserable by the time he made it to the 6th period. Theater wasn't too bad of a class in all honesty. They read plays, analyzed them, then watched modern film adaptations of them. The class was just an easy A. It had shocked Stiles to see that Kol was in his class. Kol didn't strike him as the theater kid type. He was quiet when he couldn't taunt Rebekah. He tried to antagonize Stiles but failed. Being someone who's in Kol's position normally, Stiles has learned that not reacting ruins all the fun.

"I'm bored." Kol huffed while watching Stiles doodle little aliens on his paper.

"Dude same." Stiles met his gaze and feared the sudden deviant look Kol emitted.

Kol stared at the exit as he spoke, "I say we entertain ourselves. What do you say?"

"It's your second day here and you already wanna ditch." Stiles noticed Lydia staring at the two from her seat across the room. She averted her gaze when caught. "We can go to my place. My dad won't be home until 8."

Kol gave Stiles a satisfied smile that could only be describe as adorable, "Excellent. Be right back." He stood up and went to talk to the teacher. After a minute, Kol had returned. His smile twisted into a cocky smirk to match the strides he walked. That was the smile that Stiles noticed adorned Kol's face the most. It was like his signature expression or something like that.

"We're free to leave." Kol announced.

Stiles looked between his friend and the teacher, but decided not to question it. The two left the classroom with no protest from the teacher. Some students started complaining about why they could leave early. Kol sauntered arrogantly out the door with a giggling Stilinksi in tow. The outrage from the class was near chaotic.

There was no issue getting to the Stilinski household. It seemed too easy in Stiles' opinion. He was glad there was no trouble, but he couldn't help to be paranoid about it. He was paranoid about a lot of things. It was hard not to be when your life is in constant danger. He was on edge when they arrived at the house.

Stiles liked Kol and already considered him as a friend. Regardless, he knew that he couldn't trust Kol either. Can someone be a friend if there's no trust? Maybe that was the difference between a friend and a good friend? Anyway, Stiles knows nothing about the Mikaelsons or their intentions. The only student that Rebekah and Kol spoke to was himself and that was questionable in his opinion. He knew he wasn't that interesting of a person. The only appealing aspect he had was his spark.

So inviting Kol into his home where there would be no witnesses should have concerned him more. It was idiotic, but Stiles didn't care. Kol and Rebekah were nice to him. They may have ulterior motives, but it felt nice to not be told to shut up whenever he spoke. They acknowledged him and they were attempting to be his friend.

After Stiles let Kol in the house, the two made their way to his room. Kol took in the room's simplicity before sitting on the bed. Stiles took a seat at the computer and spun around to face Kol. "Is Kol a nickname?"

Kol chose that moment to eye the baseball bat in that rested against one of the room's corners. He gave it a look of interest then averted his attention to Stiles. "What gave you that ridiculous impression?"

"It's a cool name. Its kinda badass too! I haven't met a Cole with K before. It's makes it edgy."

Kol looked at the teen for a moment, "Alright then what about Stiles? There's no bloody way anyone in the right frame of mind named you that." He wore a look of disgust as if he was dirty for saying such words.

Stiles flailed his arms around as he responded, "Hey! I'll have you know that I'm the one who came up with Stiles thank you very much. And it's ten times better than my real name anyway."

That was the statement that reeled Kol in, "Which is?"

"Nope not telling." Stiles grinned, "You want something to eat? I make a pretty good spaghetti."

Kol rolled his eyes, "Boiling noodles and adding sauce isn't much of a feat."

Stiles gasped in faux hurt, "I make everything from scratch." He clutched over his heart in exaggeration.

Kol perked up at that, "Well come on then! Let's not waste any time with meaningless babble."

"I can multitask!" Stiles laughed while leading Kol to the kitchen.

He gathered all of his ingredients. After two hours of Stiles' constant grind and Kol's unhelpful criticism, the two boys sat to eat the food made. After taking the first bite, Kol devoured his plate, and Stiles giving him a knowing grin.

"What time should we head to your place?" Stiles questioned.

Kol frowned for a brief second before responding, "We could always _not _go."

Stiles phone lit up with Rebekah's name.

"Let's see what your sister has to say about it." Stiles grinned. Kol groaned in annoyance, but signaled him to answer the phone.

"Where the bloody hell did my brother take you!"

"Technically I'm the one who took him." The teen responded cooly.

"Stiles I swear-"

Kol swiped the phone from the teen's hand, "Sister dearest! Don't fret about little ol' me. I'm sure Stiles will have me home before curfew." Stiles wasn't sure what she said on the other end, but by seeing Kol's signature grin, he could tell it wasn't nice. They hung up the phone and resumed eating.

"My sister has instructed me to keep you out of trouble."

Stiles looked taken aback at the statement, "Me!? You're the one whose idea it was to skip."

"You're the Sheriff's son, know better." Kol shrugged.

"Are you always this infuriating?"

"Guess you must stick around to find out, won't you? Now come on, can't keep Beckah and Elijah waiting long." Kol finished his food and handed his plate to Stiles.

"Your other brother isn't joining us?" Stiles gathered all the dishes and left a note for his dad.

"Klaus is a bit of a lone wolf when he doesn't get his way." Kol said with a wink.

Stiles nodded, and the two walked to his Jeep.

To say that dinner was entertaining would be an understatement. The three Mikaelson siblings were amazing host toward him. They engaged him in conversation whenever they weren't arguing with each other. It was worrisome how much they fought. He could tell that there was both love and hostility in their words. Kol and Rebekah seemed to have a close bond, but it was fractured. He could taste the hostility in some of Kol's words. He could also see that Kol was attempting to bond with his sister. Something had to have happened between the two.

Elijah seemed to be trying to have a prominent presence in the siblings lives. He seemed to want them to get along and be a happy family. Stiles could tell that there's too much history there for any of them to be the picture perfect family. Not that he could judge, considering that his dad has uttered two words to him since he's got his job back.

Stiles was curious about Klaus. Rebekah would tell some story that involved him and Kol would respond with some petty retort. Stiles figured that Kol had a near hatred for his older brother and loathed the fact that Rebekah looked up to him. It amazed him how open the family let themselves be. He wanted to learn more about them. He kind of enjoyed being allowed to see this side of his new friends. It let him know that they were as fucked up as him.

Stiles had been typing his report on his bridge for the physics project, when he heard the familiar noise of a claw tapping on his window. He turned to see which of the wolves decided to pay him an unwelcome visit and sighed. Stiles had wondered when Derek would pay him a visit concerning the Mikaelsons. It's been a week since they made their appearance. In all honesty, he hadn't expected Derek's arrival to be so soon. He thought Derek would send Lydia to talk to him before showing up himself. He also thought the pack were his friends at one point, so being wrong yet again shouldn't shock him. One thing he was right about was how Derek would go about the conversation:

First, he would sneak in through the window like some creep. _Check_.

Next he would approach Stiles menacingly and shove him against the wall. _Check. _

Lastly, he would start growling out demands and expect Stiles to be scared enough to listen. _Check. _

Usually Stiles would comply with Derek's wishes, but this time he wanted to change things up a bit.

"Fuck off." Stiles statement seemed to shock Derek enough to loosen his hold on the teen.

It took a second for the Alpha to compose himself, "They're using you to get information on the pack. You're a liability-"

Stiles let out a dry laugh, "Why do I doubt that?" There was no way that the Mikaelsons were in town for any other reason, but Stiles' spark. It was well known about how valuable Sparks were to have around. Plus they haven't spoken a word to anyone in the pack, so they either suck at getting dirt or they're in town for the person they've been around the whole time. Stiles voted for the latter.

Derek clenched his fist over Stiles's shirt collar. His eyes hardened as he flared his nostrils. Stiles had to give him props for keeping it together and not wolfing out. The Alpha's expression altered into one of understanding as he released Stiles's collar and grabbed onto his shoulders, forcing eye contact. Derek seemed to be searching for something within the teens brown eyes, causing Stiles to frown in confusion. Stiles doesn't know if he found what he was looking for, but Derek spoke regardless, "They compelled you." The teen wanted to laugh at the expression Derek had. He couldn't be serious!?

Stiles gave Derek a disbelieving look once he noticed Derek was in fact 100% serious, "They can't compel witches you dipshit!" He snapped at the Alpha.

"Stiles-" Derek pleaded, but the boy was having none of it.

Guiding his magic, Stiles spoke, "Leave and don't return until you've done sufficient research on both Sparks and Vampires." He forced the Alpha to comply. Stiles locked the window for good measure. He may be pissed at the pack, but Stiles' absence is no excuse for them to go on in blissful ignorance. Ignorance will get someone killed, and he didn't want that.

It was time to let his friends know that he knows what they are.


	3. Chapter 3

_A WEEK AGO_

Lydia Martin sat daintily in her seat while narrowing her eyes at her incompetent Alpha. Jackson's arm was lazily hanging off her shoulder and the rest of the pack were scattered throughout the room. "This is so dumb. I can't believe you persuaded me to do this." The redhead spat.

"It was for his own good." Derek defended himself, though the alpha himself seems to not believe his own words.

"Trouble finds him regardless of us being here." Erica muttered from her seat in Boyd's lap. The two of them have been attached to the hip all day. Isaac had taken it upon himself to be with them every chance he got. Everyone knew that Stiles and Scott had a confrontation earlier that day that Erica and Isaac witnessed. The three hadn't uttered a word about what happened, much to everyone else's annoyance. Especially Lydia's.

"Someone better say something before I scream."

The wolves flinched at the threat.

It was Isaac who spoke up, "Gerard had him with Erica and Boyd."

Everyone's attention immediately snapped towards the couple. Derek seemed absolutely livid as his face reddened. How did he manage to fail to protect another packmate?

"He got bored of us healing," Erica choked out. Her eyes were distant as she aimlessly played with a loose thread from her shirt. "The tortured stopped for a little bit, but he-he-" She was cut off by the tightness in her throat.

Boyd continued for his girlfriend, "He came back with Stiles." His voice was low, but everyone heard his words. "Didn't stop until he was nearly dead, he was supposed to be a message for Scott and Derek." Boyd and Derek shared a painful gaze, "They tried to get information out of him, but he refused."

Lydia's eyes widened in horror and wonder. Jackson's hand found hers and they held onto each other tightly. "He still managed to get me to Jackson in time."

"What?" Erica looked baffled.

"You didn't know that?" It was Jackson, who questioned her.

"No one told me."

"Just like you didn't tell anyone that Stiles was hurt." Derek growled lowly.

Erica frowned, "He begged us not to."

"Doesn't matter." Derek's eyes bled red for a brief second. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them upon exhale. "New rule: No secrets in this pack."

Lydia raised her hand, "I second this. Also, I think we should have a communication rule in place," She quickly eyed two of the betas," since the lack of it caused one of our members to trust strangers more than us." She gave Derek a look that dared him to go against her. He slowly nodded.

"Speaking of, are we gonna try to get him back? Because that last incident scared the shit out of me." Allison asked meekly.

Everyone looked up (besides Lydia) in shock as Jackson spoke reluctantly, "Yeah that on top of the new kids _and_ knowing he was fucking tortured makes me feel a bit on edge." Lydia patted his hand gently in support. She understood that Jackson secretly cared about the pack and viewed them as family. The instability was messing with his head. She bet he was wondering when they would get rid of him. This whole mess was making him insecure and unsure of his place.

Scott balled his fist, "Why do you even care! You made his life hell just for shits and giggles."

Lydia gave him an incredulously look, but Jackson responded to him, "He's pack you moron." The blond rolled his eyes and spoke as if was the most obvious thing in the world. Lydia eyed her boyfriend suspiciously as he smirked at the other beta. "I should be asking _you _why you care. Shouldn't you have noticed he was injured? Or was your head so far up Allison's ass-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Scott's eyes glowed menacingly.

"Both of you stop." Derek growled, "We're all at fault! _I'm _at fault. I'm the alpha. I'm supposed to notice when a packmate is in distress." He said the last part lowly.

Peter Hale entered the loft with an air of arrogance that didn't match his soft smile. The pack tensed up immediately at the sight of him. "Well then Nephew, I guess it's time you that you and your pups learn how to be a proper pack." His smile was replaced by an effortless smirk as he stood in front of his nephews pack.

The smell of uncertainty and confusion laced the air like cheap perfume. Derek swallowed hard at the sight of a genuine smile. It only lasted a second but Derek caught it. It was the smile Peter wore before the fire. He found himself nodding in acceptance at the man. It was time for him to be a better Alpha, even if it meant he needed Peter to help him.

* * *

_PRESENT TIME _

Walking on the Mikaelson Estate property without being invited seemed strange to Stiles, but the man was on a mission and he would be damned if he didn't complete it. He may have spent ten minutes in front of their door just to prepare a speech or anything that wouldn't consist of random babbling. He should have known that standing there for that long would be considered as suspicious. He also should have known that they would be aware of his presence.

Stiles stilled when a voice whispered in his ear, "Were you ever going to knock, or just continue to stand there looking pathetic?"

"I'm-um… Hi?" Stiles spun around and squeaked. This man looked unfamiliar, but had an accent similar to his friends. "I'm guessing you're Klaus?"

"Ah you heard of me I see." Klaus grinned devilishly before eyeing Stiles as if he were prey. "I don't see what the fuss is all about. You don't seem like much."

Stiles frowned in offense, "Excuse me?"

"Niklaus! Leave the boy alone." Elijah hastily opened the door, keeping a heavy staring contest with his brother.

"No need to be so protective Elijah, I was just making sure the boy made it inside alright. Poor soul seemed frightened." Klaus turned his gaze back to Stiles.

"I was nervous not scared." Stiles huffed in defense before quickly shuffling inside the house.

Klaus followed him in, "And what would you have to be so nervous about? Considering you've been in this house before without a hint a fear, what's changed now?"

Stiles was a bit startled at this information. That meant that Klaus was there during the dinner, but why didn't he join them? Was he evaluating him? Wouldn't it be best to actually see the person face to face to make a proper judgement? Stiles was removed from his musings when he saw Kol and Rebekah descend the stairs, anger on both of their faces.

"Nik stop this! Stiles is a friend." Rebekah walked over to Stiles and looked him over to ensure there were no injuries.

"You've known the boy for a week and you choose him over me?"

"Oh quit being so dramatic," Rebekah rolled her eyes, "I'm not choosing Stiles over you. I'm simply preventing you from harming him."

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her, "You think you could prevent this boy from being hurt by me?" Stiles swears he'd only blinked when he was suddenly pushed against the wall with so much force, the air was knocked from him. Stiles heard the siblings protesting behind Klaus's form. Speaking of, Klaus's vampire face was absolutely terrifying.

"Please don't eat me!" Stiles pleaded before shutting his eyes tightly.

"State your intentions with my family _Mieczyslaw." _Klaus hissed out. The veins in his face protruded out more so than before.

"Me?! You're worried about my intentions when you're family entered my life- suspiciously too!" Stiles would have flailed his arms if it wasn't for the hand around his throat. "I should be worried about what your family wants out of me! The supernatural tend to bring death and destruction when they enter Beacon Hills." Stiles winced as the grip tightened.

"Niklaus let the boy speak." Elijah demanded.

Kol grinned, "Oh yes Nik I want to know what the lad has to say."

Klaus reluctantly let him go, causing Stiles to hit the ground while gasping for air.

Stiles took a few moments to collect himself before speaking, "So… you guys are vampires."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "We're aware." He commented dryly.

Rebekah narrowed her eyes and walked over to Stiles, "How long have you known?" Her arms crossed over each other as she demanded an answer.

Stiles refused to make eye contact and instead chose to focus on his fidgeting fingers,"Since the beginning." He chanced a glance at the Mikaelsons. Rebekah looked suspicious and so did Klaus, Elijah seemed intrigued, and Kol was obviously amused. "You guys can't seriously not expect people to figure it out! Your family is infamous and it's not like you bothered to change your names." Stiles muttered the last part lowly.

Kol chuckled, which caused Rebekah to speed over to him.

She jabbed her pointer finger into his chest, "You bloody knew!"

He laughed joyfully, "Of course I did! I am the better friend." Kol aimed a cheeky wink in Stiles's direction.

"Wait! That means you knew what it meant to invite Kol into your home." A mildly confused expression graced the blonde's face.

Klaus chose that moment to speak, ignoring his sister's outburst, "Now that we have that settled, how about a drink?" He began to walk into another room.

Rebekah glared at Klaus's retreating form but followed regardless.

Stiles would admit later that he nodded a little too enthusiastically at the prospect of alcohol. He noticed that Elijah had already retrieved some glasses and a bottle of whiskey and had set up shop in the sitting room. Everyone followed and sat on the various seats in the room. Elijah was on one of the armchairs. Rebekah, Stiles, and Kol sat on the couch in that order and Klaus still stood. Klaus poured a glass for himself and Stiles and eyed Stiles as they both drank at the same time. The teen did his best not to visibly gag at the taste.

"What's with the sudden change of attitude Nik?" Rebekah demanded as she made her own drink.

Klaus sat down in one of the armchairs and smirked, keeping eye contact with Stiles, "He knows who we are." He answered simply.

"I wasn't aware you cared so much about our popularity." Rebekah responded blandly.

Elijah cleared his throat before speaking, "I believe our brother is referring to how idiotic it would be to know who we are and plot against us." He looked at Klaus, who nodded, and then shifted his gaze to Stiles. "Now there's the question of why you allowed Kol into your home, knowing what we are. I assume that you know of his reputation as well."

Stiles nodded in confirmation. He felt the warmth of the whiskey in his chest. Klaus gestured his hand toward the bottle and Stiles accepted the invitation to pour more. After a couple of sips he answered the question, "Honestly, he's my friend." He stared into his glass, "I don't exactly trust you all, considering that I don't know what you want from me, but you guys have been really nice to me. I think I figured out how you operate from the ones who reported on you guys. You're more of a blunt family. If you were going to hurt me or those I care for, for whatever reason, you would have done it already." He chugged the rest of his drink.

Klaus mockingly began to applaud him, "Truly heartwarming!" He chuckled, "It barely hides how pathetic you truly are."

"Niklaus-" Elijah started to interject, but Stiles stopped him.

"How so?" He swallowed the lump in his throat. He was not going to cry in front of _the _originals, but he was curious about Klaus's answer.

Klaus set his drink down on the small table in front of them, "You open your doors to a deadly creature of the night because he's your friend."

Stiles remained silent for a moment to think his words over. "You would hardly be the first creature of the night to have access to my house." He spoke cautiously, afraid to word anything wrong. "I didn't understand my magic then, but now I understand it enough to know that it'll inform me when your family poses a threat to me. If the day comes where you decide that my spark and whatever you need it for isn't worth it and try to dispose of me, I'll know."

Klaus grinned like the Cheshire cat, "Well I guess we'll be seeing more of each other then _Mieczyslaw."_

* * *

Annoyance radiated off of Peter Hale in waves. Each of the wolves and humans knew it was best not to be in his direct vicinity. The closest one to him was Derek and no one wanted to be Derek at that moment. Derek may have been the Alpha, but the tone Peter was using made almost everyone cower.

Lydia sat in Jackson's lap and filed her nails as Derek got a verbal beat down from his uncle. She knew he was going to do something idiotic without discussing it with the pack. It was simply something that Derek Hale did. Expecting him to change that immediately would be nearly as idiotic as his confrontation with Stiles.

She didn't understand why Derek didn't acknowledge Stiles's magic. It was one of the things the teen wouldn't shut up about. She never acknowledged Stiles before the whole supernatural shit was introduced to her, but once he became a constant in her life, she took notes of him. She knew he wasn't patient enough to do anything truly spectacular with his magic. She knew that it was his ADHD that made it harder to concentrate and stay focused on it as well. She knew that Scott and him had been distant long before Derek kicked him out. She knew that the distance made him lonely.

Lydia could have been there for him and offer support, but honestly, she had other things to deal with. Her trauma along with Jackson's was pretty heavy. Adding Stiles to the equation, when she hasn't dealt with her own demons would be chaotic. She still had nightmares from when Peter attacked her, thus connecting his soul to hers. Not only did she have to get through that, but she also had to deal with her being a banshee and helping Jackson with his emotional wellbeing.

She still felt bad that she didn't do a little more to help him. Maybe he would be less angry if everyone put more effort in their friendship with him. It doesn't take much to say hi in between classes. She visibly frowned.

"He told me to get back to him after I did research on Sparks and Vampires."

"So they are vampires?" Allison confirmed.

Peter nodded and decided to grab himself a drink before explaining, "They're not just any vampires, but the original ones." He gulped it down quickly. Judging by the way Jackson scrunched up his nose, Lydia deduced it was alcohol with a wolfsbane mix.

She leaned forward in interest, "You mean the first ones to exist?"

Peter simply nodded before pouring himself another drink.

"And they already got their hands on Stiles," Scott clenched his jaw tightly.

Allison placed a soothing hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "We just have to get him back."

Jackson eyed the two and sneered, "Can we focus on whatever a Spark is." Scott growled at the lizard teen.

Derek went to stop an argument from occurring, but Peter shook his head. _Let this play out._

Luckily, Allison intervened by answering, "It's a rare form of a witch. Their power is based on belief."

Isaac furrowed his brows, "What does that have to do with Stiles?"

Lydia audibly scoffed at the question, "You're not serious are you?" She eyed the rest of the room and noted that Peter was the only one who seemed to know the connection. "Seriously nobody...? I don't know how he dealt with any of you idiots." She huffed and crossed her arms.

Erica growled and briefly flashed her eyes at the redhead, "Either get on with it or shut the hell up."

Lydia stared her down, "Unlike you, I don't feel the need to keep vital information away from the pack."

"He told us to keep it a secret." The blonde wolf defended herself.

Lydia gave out a humorless laugh, "Which would be fine and all if you were there for him. Instead you and Boyd got support from the pack, "She eyed them from head to toe with disdain, "and from each other. What did Stiles get? ….Oh yeah! A summer alone where he probably had to relive his torture over and over and over-"

"STOP" The room grew quiet after Boyd shouted. The only sounds made were from Scott's sniffles and Erica's uncontrollable sobbing.

Peter cleared his throat.

Lydia spoke up, "Right, so as I was saying, Stiles is a spark and most likely the reason the Mikaelson's are in town."

Derek moved over to the center of the room and spoke, "Lydia, Isaac, and Scott, I need you three to research what you can about the Mikaelsons. Allison, Boyd, Erica, and Jackson, I need you to find what you can about sparks. We know they're here for Stiles, but we don't know what they're planning. Observe them at school as well." He ordered the teens.

"What about Stiles?"

"We do our best to show him we care."

* * *

Isaac's heart was hammering wildly in his chest. He knew that this was something he needed to do now or he'd never get the courage to do it again. So not even an hour after the pack meeting, he stood outside Stiles's front door and rang the doorbell quickly. He wouldn't turn back now. He wouldn't be a coward.

"Isaac?" Stiles eyed him suspiciously, but moved so he could allow him in.

"Hi." The taller boy responded meekly, eyeing the space behind Stiles.

Stiles frowned as he closed the door, but remained quiet. Instead, he led the other teen upstairs to his room, where he continued to do his homework. Isaac sat on Stiles's bed and fiddled with his hands. He had a vague idea of why he was there, but he didn't know how to put it into words. He decided to just watch Stiles work.

This was the boy who was tortured months ago. Looking at him, you couldn't tell. There were no scars. He thought back to when Stiles was still in lacrosse. There was no way that people didn't notice deep scarring. Boyd had drunkenly given him a play by play of what happened in the basement. Isaac felt sick just by listening to it. Stiles should be dead, but thankfully he wasn't. Maybe it was due to his spark?

Another thing Isaac noticed, was Stiles's mannerisms. Every movement he made was controlled and precise, except for the occasional spasm or fidgeting caused by his ADHD. You would never guess that he was a victim of torture. Stiles was good at hiding it. He was able to fool a bunch of werewolves and that fact alone was amazing. It also caused Isaac to feel hurt that he didn't say anything. That he mostly suffered alone.

"Stiles," Isaac called out softly. Stiles stopped what he was doing and whirled around to face him. Isaac motioned for him to join him on the bed. Stiles got up to go, but barely made it two steps before Isaac hurled himself onto him. His arms wrapped around him tightly, urging Stiles to return it. Stiles did.

Both boys stood in that position in the center of the room until Stiles broke the silence, "What's wrong?" Stiles demanded softly.

Isaac's voice wobbled as he spoke, "Why are you hiding your pain?"

Stiles tensed, "If this is about Scott-"

"No this is about you." Isaac moved back but put his hands on Stiles's shoulders. He saw the fear in Stiles's watery eyes. He continued, "You told Boyd and Erica not to tell anyone, why?"

"Why do _you _care." Stiles hissed out, trying to escape the grip the werewolf held on his shoulders.

Isaac inhaled deeply, "Because _I_ used to be the one with the secret and I hate that you feel like you have to keep things from us." He eyed the shorter boy with intensity, "We care about you and I'm sorry we're shitty at showing you, but we do."

"But Derek-"

"Was scared." Isaac's eyes were wide and pleading. He wanted Stiles to understand. I needed him to. "We all were. Y-you could have died because you put yourself in danger. Derek already lost everything once. He panicked. We all did."

Stiles moved his gaze to stare at their feet. Isaac could smell the guilt and confusion coming off of him distinctly. Isaac moved back in to engulf him into another hug. This time Stiles didn't hesitate to return it.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you before, but I want to be here for you now." Isaac whispered. He could feel Stiles nod and grip him tighter.

Stiles spoke lowly and if Isaac didn't have advanced hearing, he wouldn't have caught his words, "Please."


End file.
